Designed by German engineering firm Festo, these claw-tipped, artificially intelligent arms were designed to mimic the utility and movement of an elephant's trunk – but the resemblance to Dock Ock's writhing limbs is just uncanny.

Described by one observer as "strangely alive" and similar to a "giant alien maggot," the trunk/Doc Ock arms were created with 3D-printed segments and connected by pneumatic artifical muscles... it also has artificial intelligence and muscle memory! It's programmed to learn in much the same way a human baby does – through a process of trial and error. Called "goal babbling," the robot trunk can attempt to grab something; remember what went wrong; make tiny adjustments in its own positioning and muscle behaviour; and then try the grab again, until it finally gets it right.

Cripes. That'll get your imagination running wild. Can you envision a set of these things mounted to the back of one of DARPA's brick-heaving Big Dogs? Or, scarier still, one of its Cheetahs? Just think of it: the fastest robotic quadruped ever built, its sinewy pneumatic limbs swaying hungrily, claws snapping cleverly above its head, bounding mechanically toward you at speeds approaching 30 miles per hour.